With the New Year upon us, there is no doubt you’ve made some resolutions for 2017. Perhaps you’ve decided to change something to do with your health, family, or money? But have you thought about your technology resolutions for the year to come? Let me give you my top suggestions for 2017 to improve your overall “tech” health.

First of all, backup your stuff! Yes, I’m sure you have thought about backing up your data, but if you are like most people you have probably been putting it off. Maybe your phone is telling you you’re out of storage space or your computer is nagging you with reminder alerts but you just click to ignore the notifications. I help many people every week with hard drive issues or phone issues — people just like you. The key strategy to put in place if you want to have a hope of recovering your data is … you need a backup. With today’s modern technology, backing up your valuable information is easier than you think. You have numerous choices for storing backups from USB sticks, to external hard drives, to The Cloud. Whether you use one or all three of these methods, the key is to have important stuff backed up!

My second suggested tech resolution is use strong passwords. I know passwords are a big pain in the rear, but they are important for your protection. Did you know the two most common passwords are “god” and “password.” Let’s hope you have created a stronger password to safeguard access to your technological treasure-trove. I would suggest you use a unique password for everything that requires one. An example of a strong password is wC3jN%ZHpK. While this is just a random set of characters, that very feature makes it extremely difficult for someone else to guess. If you want to take advantage of current technology to help you with managing your passwords, then use a password keeper. Two of my favourite choices are LastPass and 1Password. They both offer syncing options between your computer, phone, and tablet. The best part of a password keeper is that you just have to remember one password, the master password, and then the password keeper will do the rest for you.

While most people’s conviction toward resolutions fades within a few weeks of the New Year, let’s hope these “tech resolutions” will empower you to have a great, technologically happy 2017.

JON COHEN is the owner of All About Tech and a certified Apple Mac & iOS Technician; just your local, friendly tech superhero! www.allabouttech.ca